1,000 Paper Cranes

Do you remember when we told you about our project to fold 1,000 paper cranes?

Well, here are the cranes that we have displayed as of yesterday!

We've had lots of people helping us fold the cranes, from very young children all the way to adults, and we've really been enjoying it!

We've also had some help from area high schools. I visited the Chenango Forks High School Library Club at the beginning of the month, and a week later, they brought me 120 more cranes! And on Monday, the Vestal High School librarian brought me two boxes overflowing with cranes!

Right now we have about 630 cranes, which is fantastic! But we still need about 370 more...

I'm hoping that we'll have more crane-folding sessions at the library in December, so keep your eyes open for that. In the meantime, if you'd like to try folding some at home, you can visit the Origami Fun website for instructions. You can contact Sarah (607-778-3564 or teen@bclibrary.info) if you'd like to bring in some cranes to be part of the display at the library.

Twilight Party!!!

The Broome County Public Library and

Your Home Public Library present

A TWILIGHT SAGA PARTY

Come celebrate the opening
of the New Moon movie
with other Twilight fans!

We’ll have crafts, snacks, and other activities,
as well as a Twilight trivia challenge
and a raffle for cool prizes!

For youth ages 13-18
The event will take place
Saturday, December 5, 2:30pm
Broome County Public Library—Decker Room
185 Court Street, Binghamton NY 13901

Registration is required.
To register, or for more information, please contact
Maryse at YHPL—607-797-4816
Sarah at BCPL—607-778-3564 or teen@bclibrary.info

Internet Safety Awareness - Free Seminar for Parents

Do you know as much about MySpace as your children do?

Attend a free seminar for parents on social networking, cyber-bullying, and other internet safety awareness issues.

Meghan Whalen from the Crime Victims Assistance Center will present training for parents on how to access social networking sites: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr. She will also share information regarding cyber-bullying.

This seminar is sponsored by the Family Violence Prevention Council.

Date: Thursday, November 12, 12:00-1:00pm

Lunch: Bring your own lunch. Bottled water will be provided.

Registration: To register for this seminar, please call the Family Violence Prevention Council at 607-778-2153.

Night Navigation: A Visit with Author Ginnah Howard

The Broome County Public Library is pleased to announce the visit of author Ginnah Howard on Thursday, November 5, at 6:00pm, in the Library's Exhibit Room.

Ms. Howard will be sharing excerpts from her debut novel, Night Navigation, which tells the story of a mother and son who are both struggling with the son's drug addiction. After the reading, there will be time for a question-and-answer session with the author.

For more information about the author, visit http://www.ginnahhoward.com/.
For more information about this event, please call 607-778-6451.

Reviews of Night Navigation:

"The strength of this story pulls Howard's readers along, unable to turn away from a fierce mother and son who are determined to negotiate the future without having to 'detour around every moment of their past.'"

- New York Times Book Review, July 5, 2009, an Editor's Choice

"Ginnah Howard's raw, vivid account of addiction and codependency unflinchingly explores the vast darkness of guilt and despair. The stark, urgent voices...ache with anger and love, fear and hope. Howard's ability to dive so deep into the human psyche is a testament to her grace and compassion as a writer. Night Navigation will leave you breathless--a haunting, riveting debut."

- Kiara Brinkman, author of Up High in the Trees

Help us Fold 1,000 Cranes

The Broome County Public Library invites area youth to be part of a project to make 1,000 paper cranes. According to Japanese legend, if you fold a thousand origami cranes, a wish will be granted, and there are many people in our area who wish for peace, safety, and prosperity. Help us fold cranes to display in the library as a sign of hope for our community!

We’ll be folding cranes in the Young Adult Area of the library on these dates:
Saturday, November 14, 1:00-4:30pm
Monday, November 16, 3:00-5:00pm
Wednesday, November 18, 3:00-5:00pm
Monday, November 23, 5:00-7:30pm

This program is intended for youth ages 13-18, but others are welcome to join in folding cranes. For more information, or if you would like to make origami cranes at home and bring them to the library to be part of the display, please contact Sarah at 607-778-3564 or teen@bclibrary.info.

America's National Parks

Did you get a chance to watch any of Ken Burns' documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea on PBS last week? I was able to watch a few of the episodes, and I was so interested by the history of the parks. It was amazing to me to learn about the passion and hard work of those who wanted to save beautiful places that were important to them.

When I did a search in our catalog for National Parks, I was surprised and delighted to see that a number of libraries in the Four County Library System own the companion book to the film. (Of course, I put it on hold right away, and I'm enjoying reading it!)

I've had a couple of patrons ask me for books about people they learned about through the series, and although we don't have information about all of them, we do have materials by and/or about the following notable people mentioned in the film:
- John Muir
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Horace Albright
- Shelton Johnson

If the film inspired you to do some exploring of the parks themselves, we've got a few series that might be of interest to you:
- Frommer's National Parks guides
- Fodor's National Parks guides
- Adventures in America's Western Parks (DVD series)
- The World's Greatest Parks (VHS series)
- National Park Guide series

There are many more books about the National Parks and their history! You can search our catalog to find others that are in our system, or you can stop by the library, and we'd be glad to help you find what you're looking for.

Upcoming Special Events for Children

We have a couple of special children's programs coming up next week, and we're pretty excited about them! Take a look:

Monday, October 12, 2:00-4:30pm

Join us for some "Smooth Sailing" and Columbus Day-themed art activities! This event has been generously funded by Senator Tom Libous's BOOKS Program. This event is for children ages 7 and older. Pre-registration required.

Saturday, October 17, 10:00am

American Red Cross-Scrubby Bear visits the Youth Services Department! Scrubby Bear® reminds children and adults that infection can be fought through frequent hand washing. Scrubby is an immediate reminder to scrub your hands, reinforced by his message, “Don’t get sick, and Wash up quick!” The program is most appropriate for children ages 4 through 7. Pre-registration is required.

For more information, or to register for either of these events, you can call 607-778-6456 or email youth@bclibrary.info.